This invention relates generally to new and useful improvements in laser systems, and more particularly to high energy radial flow lasers. Specifically, the invention herein provides improvements in radial flow diffusers in high energy radial flow lasers.
Existing high energy laser systems are extremely bulky, typically by reason of the requirements for storing, under pressure, gases required for laser operation, and by reason of auxiliary cooling means for the laser system. These considerations are acutely important for airborne high energy laser applications, since weight and space in airborne packages are at a premium. The radial flow high energy laser represents a significant advance in reducing the size of a high energy laser system, and may therefore provide a preferred system for airborne applications. The invention described herein, providing a self-supporting laser diffuser flow energizer, among other advantages described herein, provides the advantages of significantly improving pressure recovery in the diffusion region of the radial flow laser, and of further reducing the space requirements for high energy radial flow lasers by substantially reducing both the amount of gas consumed by the laser for a given level of performance and the space requirements for high pressure gas storage for the laser system.
Radial flow high energy lasers require for their use in airborne applications the conversion of the supersonic flow energy of the laser medium into pressure energy for discharging it to ambient. The high temperatures generated within the medium during laser operation require that any diffuser system used to accomplish that purpose must be cooled. Cooling requirements for the diffuser system impose considerable design constraints on the system, which are further complicated by the general space and weight considerations for airborne systems. Consequently, either the efficiency of laser medium recovery is poor, the flow uniformity in the laser cavity suffers, or an outside source of energy is required to remedy deficiencies.
The present invention eliminates, or significantly reduces in critical importance the problems of prior art radial flow high energy laser systems, by providing a supersonic diffuser system having a self-supporting suction capability for facilitating and improving the flow diffusion process in radial flow high energy lasers. Means are provided in the supersonic flow region of a radial flow laser diffuser, which provides a self-sustained suction, thereby improving the diffusion process. The suction means may be preferably provided on or near the diffuser walls since the worst flow deficiencies ofthe radial flow diffusion process occur near the diffuser walls. The geometry of these devices can be chosen freely to the best advantage of the diffusion process in the devices. The pressure recovery in these devices is therefore superior to that obtained for the rest of the flow passing through the laser diffuser. Since the pressure after diffusion is the same for the flow through the laser diffuser and through the suction devices, the superior pressure recovery in the suction devices has the effect that the pressure at the inlet to the suction devices is lower than in the rest of the flow, i.e. a suction effect is produced.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved radial flow laser.
It is another object of this invention to provide a radial flow laser having improved pressure recovery.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide an improved radial flow laser for airborne high energy laser applications.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent as the detailed description thereof proceeds.